The revisions will guide the ethical mindset and behavior of professional accountants in both business and public practice as they take advantage of the opportunities created by technology and adapt to new technology. Developed to remain relevant and applicable in the ever-evolving landscape of technology transformation, the revisions apply to the use of any technology, including to the extent possible, future technologies.

The revisions to the IIS will be effective for audits and reviews of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2024. The other revisions to the ethics provisions of the Code will be effective as of December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted.

Re­view the press release  on IESBA's website.

The Agenda items in­cluded:

• IESBA Strategy and Work Plan 2024-2027;
• Sustainability;
• Use of Experts;
• Public Interest Entity (PIE) rollout update;
• Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority (ADAA) - IESBA panel session;
• Emerging Issues and Outreach Committee (EIOC);
• IESBA/IAASB Coordination; and
• IESBA communications

The next IESBA meeting is scheduled for June 12-16, 2023, and will be held in New York, USA.

Re­view the high­lights sum­mary on the IESBA's web­site.

Inspection results for all categories of firms showed mixed results. Some firms demonstrated strong improvements while others received significant inspection findings at a rate higher than CPAB’s target of 10 per cent. Consistent with the inspection insights published last fall, CPAB continues to observe that firms with strong systems of quality management are more likely to have fewer files with significant inspection findings.

In 2022, CPAB published recommendations on intended changes to the information it will disclose about the results of its oversight of participating firms that audit Canadian reporting issuers. These changes will be introduced in a phased approach. In the first phase, which was effective January 2023, CPAB started to disclose all significant enforcement actions arising from regulatory assessments.

Re­view the 2022 Annual Report on CPAB's website.

The supplemental guidance points to several key themes as organizations and practitioners work toward establishing and maintaining an effective system of internal control over financial and sustainable business information. Although ICSR is not yet well established in practice, the paper discusses crucial insights that can be gained from the experiences of those organizations that are leading the way. This new supplemental guidance is timely given upcoming final rules on climate risk from the SEC and ISSB. The guidance is global, and applies to accounting, reporting, and assurance.

Re­view the press release and the COSO-ICSR report on COSO's website.

The draft Culture and Behavior Risk Guideline was developed in light of feedback to OSFI’s March 2022 Culture Risk Management Letter, and is clearer with defined terminology that improves on the approach proposed in 2022. OSFI will provide a self-assessment tool with the final guideline to help FRFIs review the design and effectiveness of their practices and further support compliance with the guideline. The draft Culture and Behavior Risk guideline complements OSFI’s existing guidance, including the Corporate Governance Guideline.

Re­view the press re­lease and the Draft Guideline on OSFI's Web site.

The Q&A publication is designed to highlight, illustrate or explain aspects of the PIE revisions in the Code and is intended to complement the Basis for Conclusions for the final pronouncement. It will assist national standards setters, professional accountancy organizations, and firms in adopting and/or implementing the PIE revisions. The Q&As will also assist regulators and audit oversight bodies, the corporate governance community, investors, preparers, educational bodies or institutions, and other stakeholders in understanding the revised PIE definition and related provisions in the Code. Among other things, the PIE revisions:

• Include an expanded definition of a PIE by specifying a broader list of PIE categories, including a new category “publicly traded entity” to replace the category “listed entity.”
• Recognize the essential role local bodies responsible for the adoption of the Code play in delineating the specific entities that should be scoped in as PIEs in their jurisdictions, encouraging them to properly define the PIE categories in the expanded definition and adding any other categories relevant to their environments.
• Introduce a transparency requirement for firms to publicly disclose the application of independence requirements for PIEs where they have done so.

The PIE revisions are effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2024.

Review the press release on the IESBA's website.

Among other matters, the revisions:

• Strengthen and clarify the independence principles that apply to:
  • Individuals involved in a group audit, including those within, or engaged by, firms that audit components within a group.
  • Firms engaged in the group audit, including firms within and outside the group auditor firm’s network.
• Specify the need for, and content of, appropriate communication on independence matters between the group auditor firm and component auditor firms participating in the group audit.
• More explicitly set out the process to address a breach of an independence provision at a component auditor firm, reinforcing the importance of transparency and appropriate communication with those charged with governance of the group.
• Amend the definitions of the terms “engagement team” and “audit team” in the Code to recognize the different and evolving engagement team structures, and address the implications of those definitional changes.
• Provide guidance to facilitate the determination of who is included in an engagement team or an audit team.
• Revise the definitions of a number of existing terms and establish new defined terms with respect to independence in a group audit context.

The pronouncement will be effective for audits of financial statements and group financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted.

Review the press release on the IESBA's website.

The proposed revisions respond to public interest concerns about tax avoidance and the role played by consultants, including professional tax advisers, in light of revelations in recent years such as the Paradise and Pandora Papers. The proposals strengthen the ethical expectations for professional accountants in business and in public practice when performing tax planning activities for employing organizations or providing tax planning services to clients, respectively.

Among other matters, the proposed ethical framework:

• Explains the types of threats to compliance with the fundamental ethics principles of the Code that might be created when professional accountants are involved in tax planning.
• Sets a clear principle that professional accountants recommend or otherwise advise on a tax planning arrangement only if they have determined that there is a credible basis in laws and regulations for it.
• Requires consideration of the reputational, commercial and wider economic consequences that could arise from the way stakeholders might view the tax planning arrangement before determining whether to proceed with the recommendation or advice.
• Provides practical guidance to assist professional accountants in navigating situations of uncertainty when carrying out tax planning.
• Deals with other practical matters, including disagreement with the client or management or those charged with governance, and documentation.

Review the press release and exposure draft on the IESBA's website.

The Agenda items in­cluded:

• En­gage­ment Team – Group Au­dits In­de­pen­dence
• Sustainability
• Tax Plan­ning & Re­lated Ser­vices
• Technology Project
• Strat­egy & Work Plan (2024 – 2027)
• Technology Working Group
• Rollout of Revised Public Interest Entity (PIE) Definition

Re­view the high­lights sum­mary and pod­cast on the IESBA's web­site.

Building on the February 2020 Phase 1 Report, the Report documents the impacts of disruptive and transformative technologies on the work of professional accountants, and provides extensive analysis and insights into the ethical dimension of those developments. The report also discusses the relevance and importance of the overarching principles and specific provisions in the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code) in laying out the ethical guardrails for professional accountants as they face opportunities and challenges in their work as a result of rapid digitalization.

The Report surveys the technology landscape and summarizes the outcomes of the Working Group’s fact-finding into the ethics implications of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud computing. It explores -- through the ethical lens -- various related issues, including data governance, cybersecurity, and reliance on, or use of, experts, and provides insights into those issues and the questions they raise. The Report includes ten recommendations which the IESBA will further consider, some of which it is already addressing in developing technology-related revisions to the Code.

Review the press release and report on the IESBA's website.